After Testimony, James Cameron Walks Back His Titan Theory

Director had speculated crew knew they were in trouble, but contractor testified they 'had no idea'
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 19, 2024 6:29 AM CDT
Contractor: Titan Crew 'Had No Idea' of Impending Implosion
This June 2023 image shows remains of the Titan submersible on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean.   (Pelagic Research Services via AP)

After two days of damning testimony from former OceanGate workers, the hearing around the Titan submersible disaster took a new focus on Wednesday—whether or not the crew knew they were in trouble before the implosion. Per the New York Times, testimony has led to a most "unsensational finding." "Throughout the descent, there were no transmissions [that] indicated trouble or any emergency aboard the Titan," reads a report from the Coast Guard's Marine Board of Investigation. The document offers a communications timeline from the moment that the Titan left the surface starting at around 9:15am local time on June 18, 2023, and headed deep into the Atlantic. The report notes that the Polar Prince support ship would hear a ping from the Titan every five to 10 seconds, and those pings continued for about 90 minutes during the descent.

Then, at 10:47am, the submersible dropped weights, and some experts—including film director and Titanic aficionado James Cameron—have speculated that meant the crew knew it was in danger and was trying to get rid of excess pounds so it could shoot back up to the surface. However, on Monday, contractor Tym Catterson testified that he believed the weight drop of about 70 pounds was simply meant to achieve neutral buoyancy, so that it could better maneuver as it approached the bottom of the sea. In other words, Catterson said, the crew "had no idea" about what was about to transpire. Just six seconds after that weight drop, "the Titan was pinged for the final time," the report notes. The Polar Prince's attempts at communication with the submersible after that received no response.

Now, even Cameron is saying he shouldn't have offered his own speculation on the matter. "I should not have passed on hearsay information about the weights on national TV," he said Wednesday after the hearing, per the Times. "We have enough intentional disinformation in our world today, without adding to it with undisciplined rumor mongering." On deck to testify Thursday is Renata Rojas, an OceanGate mission specialist, as well as the company's former scientific director, Steven Ross, per the AP. Meanwhile, footage of Titan's remains on the seafloor has now been released by the Coast Guard. The hearings are scheduled through Sept. 27. (More Titan submersible stories.)

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